[Side Story] Morgan’s Hunger

Earnest might resemble her a little bit. The way he mixed together powders, leaves, and other ingredients in his pans reminded Morgan of her own experimentations. Well, it was only a passing similarity, the outcomes were vastly different. Earnest would end up with a tasty meal, while Morgan’s “cooking” would end up with much less edible results. Perhaps an eldritch horror that would eat a victim from the inside, consuming them completely and wearing their skin as a horrific suit. Or perhaps a little black slug that had the natural instinct to crawl into human orifices and proliferate uncontrollably, infesting towns and cities. Oh, what about a potion that would strip away the sanity of the drinker, leaving them a babbling mindless mess for days. Whenever Morgan was brewing something, the only certainty was that it would violate the natural order of the world in quite the cruel fashion.

Whilst reminiscing on her past exploits, she thought about her current one. She was now an actor in her own little play. The other actors didn’t even know they stood on her stage, watched by her many pairs of eyes. There was a certain pleasure that came from being in control, from having power over others. Perhaps Morgan’s addiction to this feeling was the driving behind her journey, seeking more and more power in the most manipulative ways possible.

While she could have watched from the shadows and simply observed how the scenario she set up played out naturally, she had made the choice to join in on the fun herself. Morgan was naturally very cautious, which suited her well while she inhabited mortal bodies. She always had to fool those that knew the body that she was inhabiting, as well as avoid those that hunted her for her practice of dark magic. However, things were different now. She was in possession of a body brimming with divinity, one that mortals could not compare to.

True, she was a relatively weak god amongst her kind, so she might have to concern herself with the other gods, but the land and its creatures were so expansive that she hardly had to worry over it. As long as she didn’t do anything big, she would remain unnoticed, just as Coltia had been for most of her existence. Morgan also took a certain comfort in knowing that she had the backing of a powerful goddess, Zymera. Morgan knew she was watching over her, not only for her own entertainment but also to keep an eye on the ambitious mind that would love to replace her’s. The combination of these factors, in addition to Morgan’s boredom, led her to make the unusual choice of involving herself directly.

What could an amatateur knight like Earnest do to her? A small time apothecary? What about the little group of rascals and their new sex toy? Morgan saw no risk in playing with her little dolls, so she decided that she could live a little, and join in on the excitement. She could be the hero of the story, restoring Rosalind and earning the eternal gratitude of Earnest. Just as easily, she could be a dastardly villain, pulling everyone around her into a torrent of misery and pain. She could do anything she wanted, which was a problem in itself. She didn’t really know how she wanted the story of Earnest and Rosalind to end. Did she fancy a comedy or a tragedy?

Well, then again this whole situation was created for Morgan’s entertainment. If something started to get boring, she could shake it up and change it. She could just go along with the flow, playing her role as it suited her, changing the story to entertain her. There was no need to make a decision at this point in time.

While she resolved her thoughts, she took notice of the aroma that had been developing around Earnest’s little experiment. Her curiosity was piqued, as she took in the mixed aromas of several herbs and spices blending with the scent of cooking meat. She was glad that she gave Earnest the funds to afford this, as she had little use for her massive stockpile of wealth at the moment.

Earnest finished cooking, and Morgan received her portion of the meal. She had never seen the steamy white grains that covered the bottom of her plate before, nor had she much knowledge of the spices and herbs that he had used. She had encyclopedic knowledge of many ingredients for potions, rituals, and other magics, but never paid much attention to those whose purpose was merely taste and smell. She let others care for it, and had enjoyed many luxurious meals during her mortal time. She had tasted the best dishes that the most proficient chefs served exclusively to royalty, as she had enjoyed such status with a few of her past bodies.

Recently though, she was living the Coltia lifestyle of only consuming fruits of the land. It was only natural that the goddess of herbivores would be one herself. Not eating meat didn’t weigh much on Morgan’s mind until she had Earnest’s meal in front of her. She realized that she had built up a little bit of excitement to taste it, and further realized that she had been bored of her recent diet. She balanced a portion of white grain, onion, and meat on her fork, and took it within her mouth.

Morgan felt an explosion of flavor hit her tongue. Her mouth automatically started chewing and exploring the warm mouthful of food, but the rest of her body and mind froze. It was a sensory overload of delicious stimulation that surprised and overwhelmed her. The initial burst of flavor was full of complexity, created by a blend of herbs and spices that she couldn’t comprehend. It was strong, intense, but not overbearing. As she chewed, she bit into the soft, juicy rabbit meat and released a whole new flavor profile into her mouth. It was a fantastic meaty taste that mixed with the existing favors to create a great harmony together.

As she continued to process her food, the white grain and onion entered the mix. The onions were soft, full of the herbs and spice’s flavor, but also adding a sweetness of their own, while the white grain served as a balance to the strong flavors of the other ingredients. It was a masterful symphony, with each ingredient contributing its own signature sound to create a beautiful balance of melodies and harmonies. It wasn’t just the powerful flavor itself, but the texture and heat mingling together, creating a satisfying eating experience as a whole. Each time she chewed, signals bombarded her brain, breaking like waves upon her consciousness.

Once the mouthful had been fully chewed, her natural reflexes made her swallow the food, and Morgan experienced the sensation of it moving down Coltia’s throat into her stomach. It sent shivers down her spine. Morgan was stunned, still in shock by what had just overcome her. She had never tasted something like this in her many lives, not even from the most prestigious royal kitchen. Those meals were certainly of the highest quality, but the flavors were standardized and predictable. This was a storm of new and unfamiliar flavors playing with each other in the best of ways.

Her mouth now felt… empty, and begged to be filled again. She took another forkful of the meal and began to eat again. She was prepared this time, and fully indulged in the experience that it brought her. As she continued to eat, the rest of her body started responding. She felt a heat build up in her chest as her heart rate increase in response to her excitement. The heat spread downwards from her stomach, and even started to arouse her. Her body felt restless, as her legs started to rub against one another in an expression of her enjoyment.

This was the most pleasure Morgan had felt in a long time. She had spent much time exploring and developing Coltia’s sensitivity in other parts of her body, but never her taste. Morgan began to search for explanations. Coltia had a diet exclusively of natural fruits, and had never put meat nor anything cooked in her mouth before. Perhaps it was her mouth that was oversensitive to such new sensations and sent strong signals to her brain. No, Morgan knew that this wasn’t the only factor. Over sensitive or not, she had never experienced these flavors in any form before.

With her mind more active now, she finally took notice of Earnest and Alesia staring at her, looking a little embarrassed themselves. She realized that her physical expressions of enjoyment might have been giving them a bit of a show. That wasn’t important to her right now though, the food was. Morgan questioned Earnest as to the nature of this meal. The answer was bewilderingly simple, he had made this meal entirely himself by feel. He wanted to make use of the herbs and spices that she had funded for the party, and wanted to experiment. He even had more ideas for later meals.

Morgan felt genuine joy for the prospect of more meals like this. It was like she was a child being told that they were getting new toys. She let out an uncharacteristic vocalization of her excitement, and immediately felt embarrassment. She sounded childish and heartfelt, which was the opposite of Morgan’s demeanor. It felt like a moment of weakness, not of her body, but of her mind and soul. That was the true source of her embarrassment, but she recomposed herself and perhaps overcompensated in trying to act as mature and as in-control as possible.

She finished the rest of her meal and the group got back on the road. During this time, Morgan was deep in thought. Earnest was too important now. His cooking, his abilities… they were too valuable to Morgan to let go. Morgan had to come up with a plan to keep him by her side and cook her meals every day. Earlier she was unsure of the direction that she wanted to massage the story into, but now she was sure of one thing. She needed Earnest, and any ending that didn’t have him by her was unacceptable.

Well, she only needed Earnest’s cooking, so perhaps she could take the more forceful approach of making him a servant of hers, binding him to her forcefully. Maybe she could take a more manipulative approach of exchanging Rosalind’s wellbeing for his services? She wasn’t in any rush either, so maybe Morgan could just stay by Earnest, becoming more than a companion and becoming a friend of his. She had an unaging eternal body now, so she could enjoy her time for as long as Earnest’s lifespan lasted.

As the group traveled to Knottori together, a storm of thoughts brewed in each member’s head. Earnest was devising plans and contingencies relating to rescuing Rosalind, Alesia was devising schemes to grow closer to Earnest, and Morgan was considering the pros and cons of each method of manipulating Earnest. The three of them walked alongside one another, kicking up dust clouds in their wake as they made their way to Knottori village.